


For Love Nor Money

by MercurySkies



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment
Genre: Established Relationship, Gift Giving, M/M, Romance, Shyan Writing Events, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22793254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercurySkies/pseuds/MercurySkies
Summary: “Valentine’s Day.” He mutters in disdain. “Capitalism will take any human experience and monetise it. Is it not enough to pay for joy at Christmas time?”Written for the Shyan Valentine's Exchange 2020!
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 6
Kudos: 137
Collections: Shyan Valentine's Exchange 2020





	For Love Nor Money

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cleopatraslibrary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleopatraslibrary/gifts).



> To my wonderful giftee Lexi I hope I did your prompts justice! Happy Valentine's Day!

Red and pink. Everything is red and pink and it sets off an excited fluttering in his chest. He's Mr Feelings and since he's recently made the decision to be a little more open, a little more vulnerable, he's exposed himself as quite the sap. He just can't help it. He’s always seen Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to make others feel good. Making others feel good, well, feels good and Ryan loves a case of the warm fuzzies. Paddington is his main man after all.

Valentine’s Day is one of the rare occasions where it’s encouraged to wear your heart on your sleeve, without the social conventions of playing hard to get or basically everything that comes with the dating scene. It's a bright spot in the depths of winter, a premonition of spring. He asks around and no one objects to him sprucing up the new office with some tasteful garlands, love hearts dangling from the ceiling. Brittney helps him out with bright eyed enthusiasm, though the boss part of him screams internally as he watches her at the top of a ladder she'd insisted she climb, hastily flicking through all the health and safety legislation he knows of to check for violations.

Seeing his friends and colleagues walk into the office and smile, even simply in exasperation, makes him feel warm and buoyant. It's the kind of work environment he's always wanted, a professional environment that leaves room for its employees, room to breathe, room for a little bit of fun.

The look on Shane’s face when he walks into the office on Friday morning, and is slapped in the face by a low hanging heart, doesn’t scream ‘fun’. His hair is a riot of hastily dried shower-damp locks, and he squints tired eyes at Ryan as he trips between desks toward the one they share. He slides a take out cup in front of him and kisses him on the cheek before dropping into his chair with a grunt. He sips at his own coffee and glares at Ryan over the rim.

“You did this.” He says with thinly veiled disgust.

“With Brittney’s help.” Ryan hedges. “You like it?” Shane wrinkles his nose.

“Valentine’s Day.” He mutters in disdain. “Capitalism will take any human experience and monetise it. Is it not enough to pay for joy at Christmas time?”

“You love Christmas!” Ryan says, indignant. Shane waves him off.

“Valentine’s Day is at best, just an excuse to sweeten up a partner with saccharine sentiments, overpriced candy and keepsakes and at worst, a brightly coloured invitation to the pity parade for every singleton on the planet, regardless of their opinion on, or reasons for, their relationship status.” Shane reels off as if it's a speech he gives every year when the date rolls around.

Ryan gets it, he does. Valentine’s Day is a holiday that makes you feel bad for not celebrating it, whatever your reasons and Ryan has spent many a February 14th without a partner. He’d thought that maybe, with Shane, it could be something. They’re not grand gesture guys but Ryan was fully intending on asking Shane to be his Valentine, with a card and flowers and a back massage, the whole nine yards.

“Do you want me to take them down?” He asks frankly. For all his aggrandising and giddiness he doesn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. Shane looks offended at the mere mention of stripping the office of its gaudy new decor.

“God no, I’m not an asshole.” He grimaces and his eyes soften looking at Ryan apologetically as he straightens in his seat.

“I may not be a fan of Valentine’s Day but we still have plenty to celebrate.” He glances at the office around them, brushes fingertips across Ryan’s knuckles and smiles.

Despite his apologies Shane still makes no secret of his disdain for Valentine's Day. Wrinkling his nose at the mere mention of the holiday, though to his credit he smiles and ‘awws’ at all the appropriate points when their loved up colleagues regale them with stories of the gifts or breakfasts they woke up to that morning.

Ryan adjusts his expectations quickly and focuses on work. He still has something planned for after work that he’s sure Shane will appreciate but as the day wears on Shane truly wears on his last nerve. He leaves for a meeting without saying goodbye, earlier warm fuzzies worn down to weary affection. Valentine’s Day isn’t for everyone.

* * *

Ryan walks wearily into a darkened office, late back from errands and meetings. The garlands of red and pink look lonely dangling in the half light and he sighs. He hadn’t expected anything really, but there’s still an anxious ache lingering in his chest after Shane’s speech that morning. Amongst all the stress and overwhelming anxiety of the last several months he’d hoped that it could at least be a day for them, where they focus on each other and the new ‘thing’ between them rather than it be just another day at the office.

He makes his way through the darkened, narrow hallways of the office toward the little room he claims as his own when he needs somewhere quiet to focus. Their ranks aren’t huge but some of the personalities are and he doesn’t have the luxury of locking himself away on the Unsolved set in their new digs. Warm light filters through the translucent glass of Watcher HQ, the hazy light warm and inviting. He stops dead in the doorway to his office.

Everything is yellow and gold. Every surface is covered in sunflowers, standing tall in pots, boxes, and vases, lying along shelves, propped up between books and on top of stacks of paperwork. Amongst it all stands Shane, fidgeting and fighting a smile.

“Tada!” Shane says, gesturing grandly and almost toppling a number of sunflowers in the process. “I know I haven’t exactly been forthcoming with how I feel, and there hasn’t been a lot of time for- for us since we got this ball rolling.” Shane says softly, eyes downcast like he’s too embarrassed to look at Ryan.

“We chose a hell of a time to get our shit together.” Ryan breathes, eyes wide and Shane huffs out a laugh, breathless and flustered and Ryan feels himself warm at the sight of it, his chest filling up with fondness. “But you hate Valentine’s Day?”

Shane grins. “It’s not my favourite but I don’t _dislike_ it.”

“You asshole.” Ryan hisses, crossing his arms and struggling to feign annoyance. Shane winks.

“You’ve gotta know what you’re getting into.” Shane shrugs and gestures vaguely to himself.

“I’ve known you’re an asshole since the moment we met.” Ryan says, grinning from ear to ear. He lets his bag slide off his shoulder and land on the floor with a dull thump. He wades through a sea of yellow and all but floats into Shane’s arms.

“Happy Valentine’s Day baby.” Shane says softly, eyes half closed as Ryan cradles his face in his hands. His cheeks are tinged pink and Ryan is smitten by how nervous he still is.

“Happy Valentine’s day big guy. Thank you, this is incredible.” Shane beams.

“Florists are awesome by the way. You say you wanna fill your boyfriend’s office with sunflowers because he makes you smile and they make it happen. Weavers of dreams, plant Santas.” Shane rambles as he kisses Ryan’s cheek, his jaw, his forehead, the bridge of his nose. Ryan squirms, unaccustomed to this sheer amount of affection but enjoying it all the same.

“Plant Santas” Ryan snorts, wrinkling his nose as Shane places a kiss on it.

“In all honesty though,” Shane starts, lacing their fingers together and looking down at their palms held together between them, “this is a lot I know, and I’m not great at letting myself be, like this, with you.” He says jiggling their joined hands. Ryan nods. He knows Shane, knows his state of mind oscillates wildly from being as calm as a placid lake to as overwhelmed as an overflowing sink. No one sees anything more than a ripple across that lake’s surface, no one but Ryan and Sara and his mum.

"But I want to, do this right I don't wanna let you down. And I like you. A whole lot."

"You like like-like me?" Ryan teases.

"I guess." Shane shrugs shyly. Ryan rolls his eyes.

"You sure know how to instil confidence in a guy."

Shane smiles, wraps his arms around him until they're flush and kisses him gentle and lascivious like he's craved it all day, like he wants to sink into it like plush velvet. It's decadent and teasing, the hum that rumbles through his chest and up his throat as Ryan's hands stroke up his sides and across his shoulders to tangle in his hair. When Shane pulls back his eyes are dark, a flush high on his cheeks.

"C'mon big guy." Ryan says, taking his hand and stopping to retrieve his bag dropped by the door. Shane stumbles and when he glances over his shoulder to check on him, Shane's eyes are glued to his ass. "I've still gotta give you your gift." Shane drags his eyes up Ryan's form and smiles at him with the dopiest most hopeful of grins.

"Does it involve a massage and dick sucking?"

"Maybe." Ryan chuckles. Shane brushes a kiss to the back of Ryan's hand as they switch the lights off and make their way out into the night through the darkened hallways of the newest chapter of their life together.

"You know me so well." He mutters and there is a touch of awe in his voice. Ryan's smile is soft as he tugs them toward his car.

"Better than I know myself."


End file.
